Rose among the Rocks
by BrightBrightWorld
Summary: A mission goes wrong for our bluehaired Akatsuki origami mistress, and a surprise awaits the ginger haired leader when she staggers home. Cute little PeinKonan drabble.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Gosh, ever since chapter 363, this is my new fave couple. So I decided to try my pen at Konan and Pein. I hope you enjoy xD

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Rose Among the Rocks

"It's getting late…"

Leader sighed, his pen gliding across the paper swiftly as he finished his notes on the latest assignment he was going to assign Kisame and Itachi.

The dim candlelight flickered across the yellow paper, the little orange flame dancing as he reached for another piece of paper.

Minutes passed, the darkness filling the room comfortingly, the silence only broken by the solitary scratching of the pen on paper, and the occasional rustle of pages brushing together.

Setting his pen down, Pein cracked his sore knuckles. Tired crimson eyes scanned over the carefully looped words one last time before he rolled the assignment up. Sealing it, he carefully tossed it on a large pile of papers with a satisfied sigh.

"Finally…" he muttered, leaning back, his hands buried in his spiky red hair, massaging his temple.

He allowed a wry smirk to slip on his shadowed features.

If he knew how much bloody paperwork was involved in taking over the world (especially for the Leader), he would have definitely thought twice before creating Akatsuki…

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud knock on the door.

"Enter." He called out, blowing out a few candles so his face was hidden to the naked eye by darkness.

The heavy oak door creaked open, and Sasori slipped into the room. He was out of Hiruko for once, his cloak crumpled and covered in dirt, satisfaction glinting in his eyes.

"Ah, Sasori. I take it you finished the mission?"

"Hai, Leader-sama" Sasori bowed his head, pulling out a scroll and a small leather pouch from his cloak. "I have the information and the item you requested right here."

"Did you run into any trouble?"

"No. The jewel was heavily guarded…but it wasn't much of a problem." The redheaded puppet master shrugged, his face blank.

Pein smirked. "Any survivors left?"

"Not that I know of."

"Excellent work, Sasori. You may go."

Sasori bowed once more before pushing the door open – with some difficulty – and stepping outside the shadowy office.

Just before the door closed, Pein could hear fast-paced footsteps and a joyful gasp. Suddenly, a yellow and black figure flashed into the picture.

"Danna! You're back! Finally, un!"

"Umph! Deidara, you idiot, GET OFF ME!"

The Akatsuki leader raised a pierced eyebrow.

_Tsk, tsk Sasori. What a way to welcome your partner and best friend_…he thought.

"…Sorry, Danna." Deidara's voice, laced with disappointment, his joy obviously deflated at Sasori's reaction, seeped through the door. "How did the mission go, un?"

"It went fine. Was kind of boring though…"

Pein smirked. Without the blonde explosive expert, and his usual spectacular attacks, things are bound to be a little dull…

"What did you do?"

"Nothing much, un. Just information gathering. It was pretty weird not having someone talk to me and scream at me all the time, un." Pein could just imagine the sculptor's sly grin.

"I don't scream at you."

"…"

"…not that much anyways…"

"Your precision and memory is amazing, Danna…" replied Deidara, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"…here, brat. I bought you something from Suna…"

"Really, un? It's not sand or a scorpion, is it?"

"Of course not, you idiot."

Their voices faded as they walked down the corridor, but Leader could just make out a gasp and quiet laughter.

He shook his head, smiling.

Even though he only met with the rest of the team in his office and at mealtimes, he knew them very well. There were virtually no secrets he didn't know about.

He knew beneath the cruel exterior, Sasori did in fact care for his hyperactive blonde partner. He knew in spite of their constant and quite violent arguments, Kakuzu and Hidan also got on very well (when they weren't trying to kill each other). He also knew that in spite of his emotionless face and ruthlessness, Itachi felt at home in the Akatsuki and trusted Kisame with his life.

He was also certain Zetsu would never eat Tobi, even though his black side did threaten him a couple of times.

He sighed, glancing at the clock in the far corner of the room. The intricate number plate told him it was half past one o'clock in the morning.

"Dammit, where the hell are you?"

"Freeze."

The harsh order was barked at a tall young woman, clad in a brightly-coloured kimono, a loaded tray in hand.

She turned around, her blue fringe hanging in her fearless grey eyes.

"You. With the blue hair. Drop the tray and come here with your hands in the air. You are under arrest."

She lowered the tray slightly, raising an eyebrow at the ANBU officer.

"On what accusation, may I ask?"

"Robbery, false identity, betrayal of your home village, spying, involvement and joining anti-government organizations, murder." He snarled, drawing his katana. Beside him, the rest of the ANBU squad drew shurikens, kunais and various blades. They all gleamed sinisterly in the yellow street lamp.

"You are coming with us, Akatsuki."

With a bored sigh, she lowered the tray.

"My, what a list. And you didn't even get half the things you could accuse me with…and about the arrest…" She smirked, raising her free hand towards the squad, middle finger extended, the rest clenched.

"I don't think so."

She raised her fingers to her lips, muttering a word.

Seconds later, the ground around the ANBU squad began to shake.

Suddenly, enormous vines, wielding razor-sharp thorns, burst out of the ground. Quick as lightning, they wrapped around four of the seven ANBU, their thick poison-green stems forcing them into their thorny embrace.

They screamed in agony as the thorns dug into their skin, the strong plants resisting all attacks. The kunais buried themselves in the vines, only to be flicked off, as if they were mere water drops. Their hands, halfway through forming jutsus, were crushed to their bodies mercilessly.

Blue smirked as her vines immobilized the four screaming shinobis. She weaved her fingers together, chakra dancing among her fingers.

The ANBU leader stared in disbelief as only a minute after the first attack, more plants began to sprout on the bare, rocky ground. All around the remaining three ANBU, thick leaves twisted themselves towards the cool night air, thick purple buds hidden among them.

Blue closed her eyes, sending another surge of chakra towards the new plants. She dropped the tray, and reached into her kimono. Pulling out a fan, she covered her mouth and nose with it.

"Meregfelgo!!" she cried.

The purple buds suddenly burst open, releasing tiny clouds of what seemed like mustard gas. The faint yellow smoke danced in the moonlight before it was swallowed by the cool night air.

The ANBU leader gestured his two remaining teammates to come closer, his eyes searching the air.

"Watch out, she might have set off some exploding gas…or some hypnotizing powder…"

"What if this is a genjutsu?" one of the shinobi panicked.

"You three are all wrong." Blue smiled, taking a deep breath.

For a second, nothing happened. All they could hear was the strange Akatsuki woman chuckling away to herself.

Then, suddenly, a cold feeling began to spread across the leader's chest. He gasped in discomfort, his hand clutching at his uniform.

A few seconds later, his teammates dropped down to the ground beside him, coughing blood and clutching at their chests, their faces scrunched up in pain.

Blue shrugged, and uncovered her nose.

_Poisonous buds, idiots…_she thought, satisfied.

With that, Blue ran towards the tall wall separating the restaurant they were in and the heart of the city. With a few leaps and well-placed chakra, she was crouching on top of the wall.

With a graceful sweep of her hand, she waved her fan towards the dead team.

"I bid you goodbye" she chuckled, her eyes sparkling with an evil gleam. "This is what you suckers get for messing with Akatsuki."

"And what you will get will be a thousand times worse, Akatsuki scum. Put your hands up. You are under arrest."

She whipped her head around, peering down the wall to see four ANBU squads waiting for her, weapons steady, visible eyes determined.

She frowned, mentally groaning.

_Oh for fuck's sake…_

She snorted and stood up, kimono billowing in the wind. She smoothed a stray blue lock behind her ear, fixing the large white rose clasped in her hair.

"Look, you can either save your lives and me a LOT of irritation, or you can piss me off and end up dead in very painful consequences." She answered in a bored voice, the wind carrying her harsh warning clearly to the waiting shinobi.

The Leader laughed.

"Like you can get away, Missy. You are clearly outnumbered. Move it, and save yourself a lot of trouble."

Blue crossed her arms, reaching for the weapons hidden in her kimono.

_Missy, eh? Fucking sexist pig…_

"Fine, bastard. Your funeral." She crouched, shurikens poised on her fingers. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

_Knock……knock…._

Pein glanced up from his book, slumped in his armchair. Being the leader, he could allow himself certain privileges the other members could only dream of.

Like having a bigger room with a fireplace, sofas, and wired with the most modern technology Akatsuki could steal.

He set the book down, listening intently. He fingered the one of the many piercing in his nose unconsciously.

_Knock…._

Getting up from his chair, he quickly strolled to the door and opened it.

There in the doorway, dressed in a couple of ragged cloths that once were a part of a kimono, and covered in blood, was his partner.

Blue smiled weakly up at the astounded Pein, waving her bruised hand, crimson blood steadily dripping down her extended wrist.

"Sorry for being a little late, Pein…" she managed to whisper hoarsely before collapsing.

Quickly, the Akatsuki leader moved forward, his arms extended. He quickly wrapped his arms around Blue's torso and her legs, lifting her cold limp body up. He carefully carried her near the fireplace, setting her down on the carpet.

"I will get that thing bloody…" she muttered, her face screwed up in agony, hands clenched in fists.

"Don't worry about it…what the fuck happened to you?!" Pein exclaimed, his astounded eyes sweeping over his partner. Blue was covered in bruises and bleeding cuts, especially on her stomach and her legs. Her kimono was torn to shreds at the bottom, the originally knee-length skirt was now hanging in shreds around her mid-thighs. One of her shoes was missing, her uncovered foot bruised raw. Her bare stomach, slick with blood, was exposed, and the sleeves were completely torn off. Whatever the original colour of the clothing was, it was impossible to tell from the half-dried blood stains. Her blue hair was knotted and all over her face, the bottom locks wet with blood. The flower she always wore was bloodstained, and save for a few petals, completely torn. In the flickering orange light of the fireplace, she looked like a zombie, freshly raised from the grave to haunt her enemies.

She searched his astounded face with half-lidded eyes, her left eye swelling up under the mulberry-coloured black eye.

"Ugh, don't stare at me like that. I know I don't look too good."

"…'too good'? Blue-chan, what the hell did you get into?!"

"ANBU. Nearly finished the mission, then these guys turned up and wanted to arrest me. Guess they either called reinforcements or just announced the fact I was an Akatsuki member pretty loud, cuz after I killed them, there were four more seven-man squads waiting for me."

"You took on FOUR seven-man ANBU squads?" Pein echoed in disbelief as he searched the cupboards for his first-aid kit.

"Didn't have much of a choice, did I?" Blue groaned, trying to push herself up.

"Stay still" Pein warned her, pushing her back. He began to wash the wounds on her arms, the cotton wool soaking up her blood rapidly. He shook his head in incredulity.

"I'm surprised you didn't faint halfway through from blood-loss."

She gave a dry chuckle. "You're not the only one." She hissed as the disinfectant brushed over the cut on her stomach. "Gawd, be gentle, eh? I was just turned into a freaking human pin-cushion hours ago just because you're my boss and partner."

He smirked, cleaning the wound. "I'm sorry. But it's not my fault you suck at disguising yourself."

"I suck at…oh fuck you, Pein!" she snarled before closing her eyes, exhaustion overtaking her.

"Keep swearing and I will leave you like this." He smirked, putting his free hand on his hip.

She groaned one last time before rolling her head to the side and allowing her partner to treat her wounds, sending a death glare towards him.

Pein smirked as he focused his chakra, green flames enveloping his hand. He gently pulled them across the worst wounds, sighing with relief when they healed immediately with a soft hiss, the flesh knitting itself back together.

For the next twenty minutes, the room was silent, save for the crackling of the flames, the hiss of chakra and the wounded kunochi's hitched breathing.

Tying the last knot on her bandages, he turned to face the exhausted Blue.

"Done." He stated simply. "Still alive?"

"…yeah" she whispered, opening her eyes. The grey irises shone tiredly, sending wordless thanks and gratitude towards the red-headed leader. "Thanks…"

"No problem…" he shook his head, kneeling beside her.

"You owe me a kimono, Pein."

He smirked. "If you expect me to get you a kimono, Blue-chan, you have another thing coming."

"That's hardly fair!" she frowned, pushing herself up to a sitting position, wincing.

"That was my favorite! AND it was YOU who gave me that mission of posing as a geisha!"

"Which you failed at…"

"Okay then, you try sending Itachi or Deidara to pose as one, and see if they can pull it off! I got you all the Goddamn information you wanted, and only got discovered NOW!" Blue huffed, her eyes flashing. She was seriously pissed off.

She had to train for weeks to be able to mingle within the rigorously trained geishas, where every little move had to be strictly like in the book. One mistake and she could be revealed.

Not only that, but having to endure some of those snobby bitches in the geisha house without killing them was an absolute nightmare.

And she didn't even consider the customers…ugh.

AND she had to fight her way through three-dozen ANBU, stumble a good ten miles to the lair, half-dead without being noticed.

And now her partner was ridiculing her?!

"Look, LEADER" she began, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If I am so inefficient, please, go ahead, replace me. I would hate to be such an wasteful part of your team, and a disappointing partner-" she was cut off by fingers pressing gently on her bruised lips.

"Give it a rest, Blue-chan…" Pein smirked.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she frowned, her words muffled by his silencing hand.

"Everyone calls you that around the lair. It suits you. Why, it bothers you?"

"Not particularly…" she shrugged, lying back on the carpet, drawing her wounded legs close to her chest, her signature blue locks scattered beside her head. She sighed, enjoying the warm licks of the fire close to her cold body.

Pein watched her for a few moments before reaching into his pocket.

"You might not get that kimono…but here's something that might ease you up a bit.' He set the small leather pouch on the carpet in front of her nose.

"Happy Birthday, Blue-chan."

Blue's good eye widened to the size of a shuriken. She gaped at both her smirking partner and at the pouch.

"Okay…Pein, you actually remembered my birthday? What's wrong with you? Are you sick or something? Or just want to send me on some seduction assassination mission and this is a way to sweet-talk me into it?"

He chuckled. "No, I am fine. Are you going to open it today?"

Tentatively, she reached for the pouch. Her bandaged fingers pulled the string and tipped it upside down.

A small chiseled pendant, wound on a long leather string fell out on her extended palm.

She gasped and picked up the pendant to examine it. The last thing she expected was jewellery, let alone something this beautiful.

It was a small rose, resting on three leaves. The detail was magnificent, each petal well-defined, small markings making the hard gemstone seem almost real. It was carved out of light green stone, almost transparent in the flickering orange light.

She brushed a finger over it, marveling the detail to no end. She glanced up at Pein, who was observing her reactions with a slightly amused smile.

"Pein…"

"You like it?"

"It's…amazing. I love it."

"It's made out of jade. I thought you might like it, as you are so fond of your flowers and vines. And I'm sorry your birthday didn't go too well…"

Blue smiled, closing her hand around the precious jewel.

"Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. We're partners, right?"

She glanced up, her grey eyes winking at his sleepy red ones.

"Right, _Leader_-sama…"

He groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Not now, I'm begging you. Too tired…"

She giggled, pushing herself to her feet. She hissed as pain tore through her body.

"So when do you need me next?"

"You're not going anywhere until you have healed properly, Blue-chan."

"Yes, mother…" she grimaced, leaning on the wall for support. She panted slightly.

"I am gonna take a very long bath now…you disturb me, you will join the dead ANBU ninjas on the streets."

Pein raised an eyebrow, sitting back on the couch.

"I thought you had your vaccination against rabies, Blue-chan…"

"Oh fuck you…" she growled, jokingly flashing her fangs. Gripping the wall for support, she stumbled into their shared bathroom.

"Do you need any help?" Pein called out.

"No, you pervert!" came the answer. The leader shook his head and went back to his book. Involuntarily, his lips sprang into a small smile.

He knew better than anyone else that shinobi weren't supposed to get attached. It was dangerous to have feelings for others. It clouded decisions and could lead to disasters.

But he couldn't bring himself to order his teammates to break off their friendships and stamp out their feelings.

He couldn't pretend he didn't enjoy having the optimistic blue-haired kunochi as his partner.

He couldn't bring himself to be a completely emotionless bastard.

Sure he was cruel. Ruthless. Bloodthirsty, even.

But he was human.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened, and Blue stuck her head out. Her now clean hair hung wet around her face, like a wet curtain.

"Hey, Pein!"

"Hmm?" he turned to face her.

"Thanks."

With that, she disappeared back into the steamy bathroom.

Pein raised an eyebrow, staring at the door for a few minutes before turning his red gaze back to the page.

Turning the page, he rolled his eyes.

_Maybe if I were an emotionless bastard, I doubt I could figure women out even then…_

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xD Hope you liked it! Plz review, comments are really appreciated!

Lene


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